Medicare has released a revised version of the ABN. They previously indicated that mandatory use of this version would begin on Nov. 1, 2011. Medicare has now delayed the implementation date to Jan. 1, 2012. All ABNs with the release date of March, 2008, that are issued on or after January 1, 2012 will be considered invalid.

New York Chiropractic College has received approval from the New York State Education Department to offer an Advanced Certificate Program in Sports Science and Human Performance.  The program is designed to provide the student with a solid foundation of exercise science and sports medicine principles that leads to unique hands on clinical workshop experiences at a variety of sporting events.

Mariangela Penna, DC was inducted as a Fellow into the International College of Chiropractors at the annual American Chiropractic Association meeting recently held in Portland, OR. Presenting Dr. Penna with her award is H. William Wolfson, DC, ACA NY Downstate Delegate. Dr. Wolfson informed the attendees of the untiring efforts and hard work Dr. Penna has performed on behalf of the chiropractic profession. Dr. Penna’s recognition is richly earned and deserved. She is immediate past president of the New York State Chiropractic Association and serves as the NYSCA NY State Affiliate representative to the ACA.

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) recently honored Long Island resident H. William Wolfson, DC, with its prestigious 2011 Delegate of the Year award during the association’s annual House of Delegates meeting in Portland, OR. The award is presented annually for exceptional service, achievement and leadership within the association’s governing body.

Seneca Falls, NY: New York Chiropractic College employees know that the College is a great place to work, and the Chronicle of Higher Education agrees! For the third year running, NYCC has earned recognition by the Chronicle as a “Great College to Work For.”   The College also achieved, once again, a place on the Chronicle’s select “Honor Roll,” joining only seven other schools of similar size nationwide to repeat this distinction.

Seneca Falls:  New York State Chiropractic Association past-president Dr. Mariangela Penna presented NYCC President Dr. Frank J. Nicchi with the association’s highest honor, the Ernest G. Napolitano Award, during the College’s Homecoming weekend attended by more than 430 alumni, students and members of the faculty.

The National Prevention Council (NPC), recently called for the development of a National Prevention Strategy to outline goals and recommendations for improving health and wellness for all Americans. The National Prevention Strategy highlights several preventative measures throughout the report including alternative therapies for back and neck pain.

According to the report, one key aspect of expanding preventive services is to “enhance coordination and integration of clinical, behavioral and complementary health strategies.” The report also specifically touts the benefits of spinal manipulation stating, “Complementary and alternative therapies for back and neck pain (e.g., acupuncture, massage, and spinal manipulation) can reduce pain and disability.”

 Read the full report here.

Abstract

Objectives: To compare occurrence of repeated disability episodes across types of health care providers who treat claimants with new episodes of work-related low back pain (LBP).

Method: A total of 894 cases followed 1 year using workers’ compensation claims data. Provider types were defined for the initial episode of disability and subsequent episode of health maintenance care.

Results: Controlling for demographics and severity, the hazard ratio [HR] of disability recurrence for patients of physical therapists (HR = 2.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.0 to 3.9) or physicians (HR = 1.6; 95% CI = 0.9 to 6.2) was higher than that of chiropractor (referent, HR = 1.0), which was similar to that of the patients non-treated after return to work (HR = 1.2; 95% CI = 0.4 to 3.8).

Conclusions: In work-related nonspecific LBP, the use of health maintenance care provided by physical therapist or physician services was associated with a higher disability recurrence than in chiropractic services or no treatment.


Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine: April 2011 - Volume 53 - Issue 4 - p 396–404

According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report released this week, Medicare payments to physicians will be reduced by 29.4% on Jan. 1. 2012, unless Congress takes action. 

The reduction is the result of several years of legislative action intended to either maintain or increase Medicare physician payments as those rates were scheduled to decrease according to Medicare’s Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), a mechanism used to determine reimbursement rates.

There is general consensus that the SGR needs to be amended. Determining how best to change the formula has been the topic of numerous congressional hearings this year.  CBO's new report provides input into the costs of proposals to replace or amend the Medicare fee schedule formula. CBO reports that if Congress were to eliminate the SGR and freeze Medicare payments to physicians at current rates, the cost to the federal government would be almost $298 billion over 10 years. By contrast, providing a 2% pay increase each year until 2021 would cost $389 billion over 10 years. One of the less expensive options would be to reset the SGR by having Congress forgive all previous spending above the cumulative targets as of the end of 2010.  That solution would cost $195 billion over 10 years.

On Tuesday, May 03, 2011, members of the NYSCA and Council’s Joint Legislative Task Force met with key legislators in Albany regarding our priority legislative items for 2011.The meetings proved to be effective and productive. Members from both parties in the Senate and Assembly agreed to sponsor and support our legislation.

(Arlington, Va.) -- The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) applauds federal efforts to curb prescription drug abuse following the U.S. government’s announcement in late April that the problem has reached crisis level. ACA encourages patients and health care providers to explore drug-free, conservative approaches to pain management as a first-line defense against painkiller abuse.
 
The government’s report, “Epidemic: Responding to America’s Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis,” notes that while the use of some illegal drugs has diminished, the abuse of prescription medications has sharply increased, particularly prescription opioid pain relievers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin. It points out unintentional opioid overdoses—once almost exclusively the fate of heroin abusers—are today increasingly caused by prescription painkiller abuse.
 
“This new report shows that while sometimes the use of these powerful drugs may be necessary, their overuse and abuse can lead to deadly consequences. The chiropractic profession offers non-drug interventions for pain relief,” said ACA President Dr. Rick McMichael. “We urge health care providers, whenever possible, to recommend drug-free conservative care interventions for their patients before prescribing medications that may be associated with harmful side effects. It’s critical that patients know their options.”
 
The government report outlines a four-part strategy to reduce the incidence of overdose caused by painkiller abuse, including increased education; monitoring of “doctor-shoppers” who obtain multiple prescriptions; the safe disposal of prescription medications; and cracking down on “pill mill” clinics that dispense hundreds of pills per patient. ACA believes prevention is also key and that increased use of conservative approaches for pain management may curb the need for painkillers and thereby reduce the likelihood of patient dependency, overuse and possible overdose.
 
Chiropractic care is best known for its effectiveness in treating painful conditions such as back pain, neck pain, and headaches—which are serious causes of disability in the United States. According to the U.S. Bone and Joint Decade, the number of prescription medications has increased in the past 10 years. Chiropractic care may lessen or eliminate the need for medications in some cases and help patients avoid unnecessary surgery. Chiropractic physicians treat the whole person, promote wellness and strive to address the underlying cause of patients’ ailments, not just their symptoms.
 
Current evidence-based guidelines support the use of conservative care such as chiropractic for conditions such as chronic lower back pain. In 2007, the Annals of Internal Medicine published low back pain guidelines developed by the American Pain Society and the American College of Physicians recommending that, for patients who do not improve with self-care, doctors should consider non-pharmacologic therapies such as chiropractic care, massage therapy and acupuncture.

Abstract (provisional)

S3741, sponsored by Senator George Maziarz, and A6294, sponsored by Assemblyman Keith Wright, has been introduced in both houses of the legislature.  This bill would prohibit the application of the medical treatment guidelines to workers compensation patients who had a date of accident or date of disablement prior to December 1, 2010.

ACC/RAC combines the ACC’s annual business meeting and working group sessions along with the educational and research or RAC’s (Research Agenda Conference’s) focus on scientific knowledge - a powerful combination intended to cultivate an increasingly intimate relationship between chiropractic scholarship and education. Chiropractic research, fittingly held to serve as the backbone for chiropractic’s successful progression, is appropriately highlighted at the conference known to attract high caliber educators and scientists. The theme this year was “Integration: Chiropractic Education and Practice in Integrative Healthcare.”

Seneca Falls: On Saturday, April 2, at 10:00 AM New York Chiropractic College will hold commencement exercises in the campus Athletic Center, conferring degrees upon 53 candidates in its Doctor of Chiropractic program.

The commencement address will be delivered by New York State Assemblyman Brian M. Kolb of the 129^th Assembly district.  Assemblyman Kolb has demonstrated a long time commitment to education through his personal life and professional career.  He earned his Master of Science and Bachelor’s degrees at Roberts Wesleyan College and currently serves as an adjunct professor of Adult and Graduate Education at the college.  He has been twice selected by the students as Outstanding Faculty Member.  Kolb is the former chairman of the Finger Lakes Community College Foundation, and a former member of the Finger Lakes Community College Board of Trustees and the Honeoye Central School Board.  He belongs to the Canandaigua Rotary Club, the Honeoye Chapter of the Sons of the American Legion, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Advisory Board, the Ontario Charities Classic Board of Directors, the Ontario ARC Advisory Board, the Merrill Hose Fire Company, and the New York Farm Bureau.  He previously served as Supervisor for the Town of Richmond and a member of the Ontario county Board of Supervisors.  He currently is a member of the National Conference of State Legislators, the American legislative Exchange Council and the Heartland Institute’s Board of legislative Advisors.

The commencement exercises will also play host to the formal induction of new fellows into the American College of Chiropractors. Inductees will include Charles A. Hemsey, DC, a 1981 graduate of Life Chiropractic College who currently serves as the Chief of Staff at NYCC’s Levittown Health Center, and Ronald J. Wellikoff, DC, an 1976 alumni of Columbia College of  Chirorpactic (now NYCC), former president of the Florida Chiropractic Association and former Chairman of the Board of the Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine.

For further information about New York Chiropractic College’s degree programs please visit www.nycc.edu .

Abstract
 
Background context
Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for the management of patients with acute mechanical low back pain (AM-LBP) have been defined on an international scale. Multicenter clinical trials have demonstrated that most AM-LBP patients do not receive CPG-based treatments. To date, the value of implementing full and exclusively CPG-based treatment remains unclear.
 
Purpose
To determine if full CPGs-based study care (SC) results in greater improvement in functional outcomes than family physician–directed usual care (UC) in the treatment of AM-LBP.
 
Study design/setting
A two-arm, parallel design, prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial using blinded outcome assessment. Treatment was administered in a hospital-based spine program outpatient clinic.
 
Patient sample
Inclusion criteria included patients aged 19 to 59 years with Quebec Task Force Categories 1 and 2 AM-LBP of 2 to 4 weeks’ duration. Exclusion criteria included “red flag” conditions and comorbidities contraindicating chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy (CSMT).
 
Outcome measures
Primary outcome: improvement from baseline in Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDQ) scores at 16 weeks. Secondary outcomes: improvements in RDQ scores at 8 and 24 weeks; and in Short Form-36 (SF-36) bodily pain (BP) and physical functioning (PF) scale scores at 8, 16, and 24 weeks.
 
Methods
Patients were assessed by a spine physician, then randomized to SC (reassurance and avoidance of passive treatments, acetaminophen, 4 weeks of lumbar CSMT, and return to work within 8 weeks), or family physician–directed UC, the components of which were recorded.
 
Results
Ninety-two patients were recruited, with 36 SC and 35 UC patients completing all follow-up visits. Baseline prognostic variables were evenly distributed between groups. The primary outcome, the unadjusted mean improvement in RDQ scores, was significantly greater in the SC group than in the UC group (p=.003). Regarding unadjusted mean changes in secondary outcomes, improvements in RDQ scores were also greater in the SC group at other time points, particularly at 24 weeks (p=.004). Similarly, improvements in SF-36 PF scores favored the SC group at all time points; however, these differences were not statistically significant. Improvements in SF-36 BP scores were similar between groups. In repeated-measures analyses, global adjusted mean improvement was significantly greater in the SC group in terms of RDQ (p=.0002), nearly significantly greater in terms of SF-36 PF (p=.08), but similar between groups in terms of SF-36 BP (p=.27).
 
Conclusions
This is the first reported randomized controlled trial comparing full CPG-based treatment, including spinal manipulative therapy administered by chiropractors, to family physician–directed UC in the treatment of patients with AM-LBP. Compared to family physician–directed UC, full CPG-based treatment including CSMT is associated with significantly greater improvement in condition-specific functioning.
 
The Spine Journal (December 2010) Volume 10, Issue 12 Pages 1055-1064